10 Things to Know for Today

From left to right, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., rush to the chamber during a procedural vote on a comprehensive defense bill which would provide $552.1 billion for the regular military budget and $80.7 billion for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas operations, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. The bill also seeks to crack down on sexual assault in the military and add protections for victims.

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. OBAMA SETS HIS SIGHTS ON 2014 Having signed bipartisan budget deal and defense bill that cracks down on sexual assault, raising the debt ceiling and health care law showdowns are next.

2. BOMBING IN BEIRUT KILLS EX-FINANCE MINISTER Mohammed Chatah, who had served in former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's cabinet, died along with four others.

3. FOUR DEAD IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA PARISHES Louisiana authorities say a man killed his ex-wife's mother and the head of a hospital where he'd worked before fatally shooting himself, and his wife was also found dead of unknown causes.

4. NEWTOWN REPORT TO BE RELEASED Connecticut authorities plan to make state police documents from the investigation into last year's Sandy Hook school massacre available Friday afternoon.

5. AMERICAN ABDUCTED IN PAKISTAN CALLS FOR HELP A 72-year-old development worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida more than two years ago appealed to President Obama in a video released to negotiate his release.

6. WHERE AUTHORITIES SAY THE LATEST "KNOCKOUT GAME"-STYLE ATTACK HAS HAPPENED A white Houston-area man is charged with sucker-punching an elderly black man in Katy, Texas and filming it on video.

7. MORE SNOW, ICE SLOW RESTORATION OF POWER After a weekend ice storm turned out the lights from Michigan to Maine and into Canada, many still wonder when they will get their electricity back.

8. WHAT YOU CAN FIND AT THE NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT LOST-AND-FOUND The lost-and-found office's supervisor says people often lose false teeth, along with the more common wallets and smartphones, on buses and trains.

9. WHICH INDIAN BRIDAL NECESSITY IS GETTING HIT BY IMPORT TAXES Brides in India customarily wear as much gold jewelry as their family can afford, but new taxes mean they're getting less for their money.

10. SPEEDSKATER OVERCOMES EXCRUCIATING CONDITION TO MAKE OLYMPIC TEAM BID Rebekah Bradford's pulmonary embolism could have been fatal, but she's now competing at the U.S. team trials in Utah.